Fishing

Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
Just got back from a weekend trip to the upper Ottawa, what a nightmare lol. I’d post pics of the walleye but didn’t catch any lol. They opened the dam 3 days before we arrived so water was high, black, and fast. I did catch a channel cat that was 10 lbs (highlite of the 3 days) that fought like a trooper lol. Notice the rapids lol. Oh ya, they closed the dam the morning we left lol. Putting the big boat away for the winter .....a sad time :(. 6A4FCE80-8460-464A-AE75-E010D45248DD.png
 
jerryb73

jerryb73

Well-Known Member
Budley Doright said:
Just got back from a weekend trip to the upper Ottawa, what a nightmare lol. I’d post pics of the walleye but didn’t catch any lol. They opened the dam 3 days before we arrived so water was high, black, and fast. I did catch a channel cat that was 10 lbs (highlite of the 3 days) that fought like a trooper lol. Notice the rapids lol. Oh ya, they closed the dam the morning we left lol. Putting the big boat away for the winter .....a sad time :(. View attachment 4217951
Click to expand...
Sorry bout your luck, I love the fall colors though..
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
macsnax said:
Lakers in lawn chairs, lol. I really need to get the boat out again before they start spawning.
Click to expand...
They have a false spawn but only a very small number, the lake has no natural reproduction anymore :(. So they are now up shallow and biting. I only have the fogging left to do on the big boat and having a hard time doing it lol, there may be a few nice days left ;). My 14’ stays in till freeze up day, I’m still waterfowl hunting :).
 
macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
Bummer they don't reproduce at your spot anymore. Some of the biggest fish we catch every year (multiple species) is due to false spawn activity. It's how I've gotten my kids hooked on chasing the bigguns.
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
macsnax said:
Bummer they don't reproduce at your spot anymore. Some of the biggest fish we catch every year (multiple species) is due to false spawn activity. It's how I've gotten my kids hooked on chasing the bigguns.
Click to expand...
At one time this lake was a premier lake trout destination and bass as well. It’s now a shadow of its self :(. White fish are gone, pike are almost gone with very few spawning. It’s sad as I’ve spent my whole life here and seen it happen. They now stock 35,000 trout fingerlings every spring and by looking at the bellies of the caught trout it’s mostly to feed the bigger ones :(, the smelt are gone (not a terrible thing IMO). Now the trout season open year round, so there is always that I guess :(
 
macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
It's sad to see that kind of shit happen. I'm a lifetime local where I live in Co, to put it nicely it's just not the same anymore, fishing and big game. A lot of places are geared towards tourism and apparently they think everyone is really excited to catch stocker rainbows.:spew:
Oh well, I still have some honey holes that we catch fish that break the state records. I think we've caught about 20 tiger trout not that would have set new records. And we do not register them, or the spot would be ruined. The tigers were introduced to reduce the brookie population, now we catch trophy brooks and tigers. :hump:
 
GreatwhiteNorth

GreatwhiteNorth

Global Moderator
Staff member
Budley Doright said:
At one time this lake was a premier lake trout destination and bass as well. It’s now a shadow of its self :(. White fish are gone, pike are almost gone with very few spawning. It’s sad as I’ve spent my whole life here and seen it happen. They now stock 35,000 trout fingerlings every spring and by looking at the bellies of the caught trout it’s mostly to feed the bigger ones :(, the smelt are gone (not a terrible thing IMO). Now the trout season open year round, so there is always that I guess :(
Click to expand...
I grew up near Lake Okeechobee and the areas affected by the red tide.

We can all thank Big Sugar for fucking that place up.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/red-tide/scientists-say-florida-can-avoid-future-red-tide-disasters-but-special-interests-might-be-in-the-way/67-609206540
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
macsnax said:
It's sad to see that kind of shit happen. I'm a lifetime local where I live in Co, to put it nicely it's just not the same anymore, fishing and big game. A lot of places are geared towards tourism and apparently they think everyone is really excited to catch stocker rainbows.:spew:
Oh well, I still have some honey holes that we catch fish that break the state records. I think we've caught about 20 tiger trout not that would have set new records. And we do not register them, or the spot would be ruined. The tigers were introduced to reduce the brookie population, now we catch trophy brooks and tigers. :hump:
Click to expand...
I’ve done a bit of fishing around Estes Park years ago, really nice country. We actually fished the river that runs right through town lol.
I believe there was a bar right there lol
 
macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
Budley Doright said:
I’ve done a bit of fishing around Estes Park years ago, really nice country. We actually fished the river that runs right through town lol.
I believe there was a bar right there lol
Click to expand...
Fall river, I think..... I don't get up there much. If you go through Rocky Mtn National Park from Estes you come out at grand lake, lake Granby and Williamsfork res isn't too far. All three have awesome laker fishing depending on the time of year. I think the next state record is going to come out of Williamsfork, a buddy of mine has came within a few pounds on several occasions.
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
macsnax said:
Fall river, I think..... I don't get up there much. If you go through Rocky Mtn National Park from Estes you come out at grand lake, lake Granby and Williamsfork res isn't too far. All three have awesome laker fishing depending on the time of year. I think the next state record is going to come out of Williamsfork, a buddy of mine has came within a few pounds on several occasions.
Click to expand...
What is the record? And is, I think it’s called whirling disease, still an issue there? Biggest that I have personally seen in this lake was 28 and I’ve caught a couple around the 20 mark.
 
macsnax

macsnax

Well-Known Member
Budley Doright said:
What is the record? And is, I think it’s called whirling disease, still an issue there? Biggest that I have personally seen in this lake was 28 and I’ve caught a couple around the 20 mark.
Click to expand...
The current record is 50.5 lbs out of blue mesa res. That lake is shot now though. They've been shocking and killing lakers down there for at least 5 years now. They do relocate the big ones, but they decided they population was too big and its just not the same fishery anymore. The whirling disease doesn't seem to be a problem anymore, I haven't even heard that term in years to be honest. For the record I'm not out there catching 40+ pound lakers, my buddy that does this is free of responsibilities and will camp out for up to a month and fish everyday. The dude is like the lake trout whisperer, sending me pics of big fish daily. I'm not even sure I've broke 30, a few of the bigger ones I've caught weren't weighed before release.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top